


sailing

by tawnyport



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future Fish, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 07:50:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17018688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tawnyport/pseuds/tawnyport
Summary: Had the man who couldn’t tell Capricorn from Cassiopeia really just quotedFrom the Earth to the Moon?Nagisa knows how to make a special occasion even moreso in every universe.





	sailing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [suchanadorer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/suchanadorer/gifts).



“Woooooooooooooow! Rei-chan, did you really make that?”

Ryugazaki Rei pinched the bridge of his nose under his glasses and silently started counting backward from twenty. He wasn’t going to cave. He wasn’t. This was an important night and he was going to be treated with respect by everyone present. Everyone. Even hot shots whose trademark seemed to be treating everyone else like a child.

“Rei-chan? Are you all right?”

_Seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, fourteen…_

“I know! Can I get you something to drink? That might help!”

Rei sighed. “You can remember what we discussed when you informed me that you’d managed to get your hands on a ticket to this event despite being as far removed from it as possible while still having the same agency issuing your paycheck.” _Nine, eight…_

“Huh? Oh.” Rei didn’t need to open his eyes to know the face hovering above his own went from enthused to slightly crestfallen. "Ryugazaki-kun. Are you all right?“

Rei opened his eyes and looked up at Nagisa. Hazuki-kun. He couldn’t very well break his own rules no matter how much he heard the astronaut referenced informally. He could, however, let his shoulders lower just a little in relief. Hazuki’s eyes lit up and he smiled broadly when he noticed. ”Yes, I’m fine. Merely a little overwhelmed.”

"You shouldn’t be, though. You should be proud!” Hazuki turned away from him and swept his hand toward the ceiling. A scale model of the IKAROS, the solar sail on which Rei had been the lead materials engineer, hung there, illuminated by several spotlights that made the gold of the polyimide membrane gleam. “Look what you made! And it’s flying through space right now! It’s the first ever successful solar sail, Rei-kun.” His voice was so reverent that Rei let the dip back into familiarity go unchecked.

"I didn’t make it,” he corrected, rising to stand next to Hazuki and look up. ”I just led the team that designed the membrane and LCD placement. It’s not that remarkable, really.”

"Rei-kun,” Hazuki replied with a pout, turning to look up at him, “why would you say that? IKAROS wouldn’t even exist right now if it wasn’t for you and your team. It’s like a miracle! And on top of that it’s beautiful. Your signature is all over it.”

Rei glanced down at Hazuki then tilted his head even higher, counting on the generally dark mood lighting of the gala center to hide his blush. “It is. I… I put a lot of myself into this design.” He loved the IKAROS with all her flawless angles and regal color scheme. Of course, the metallics and purple were incidental to the function of the sail but that didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate them just the same. She’d be brilliant in the full light of the sun, but…

“Rei-kun, are you thinking about how no one will ever acknowledge your hard work?”

He started and cleared his throat. ”We have no intention of sending so much as a manned flight anywhere near the area between Mercury and Venus in the foreseeable future so yes, there is a part of me that is saddened to know that I will be essentially the only one to truly understand the beauty of—”

“I will.”

“Excuse me, Hazuki-kun?”

Hazuki was no longer looking at Rei but instead out across the small gathering of scientists and engineers organized by JAXA to celebrate the first successful transmission from IKAROS. His hands were balled up, knuckles resting on his hips, and Rei was taken aback by just how determined and professional he looked.

He mostly knew Hazuki by reputation—an irreverent, youthful pilot who’d fought tooth and nail to overcome his small stature to become one of the most popular astronauts in Japan’s history. If astronauts were the rock stars of the aerospace world then Hazuki Nagisa seemed determined to be the next Inaba Koshi. Rei had been surprised to get his email out of the blue suggesting they spend some time together at the celebration but he’d agreed provided Hazuki-kun agreed to keep the press and theatrics to a minimum. Hazuki had agreed without any protest.

Rei sometimes couldn’t believe he actually worked for JAXA. When he’d first joined JAXA he’d jokingly referred to multiple constellations by seemingly random names. The Squid. The Penguin. Someone with so little knowledge of something so basic seemed like a deeply flawed choice for leading missions in space but looking at him now Rei could see the steel in the other man.

“I’ll understand the beauty of it. Everything about space is beautiful, Rei-kun. I wish there was a way I could take everyone up to see it. The stars look so close without anything between you and them and Earth looks so small. It really makes you think about what matters the most.” Hazuki glanced back over his shoulder with a little smile. When he spoke again, his tone was dryer. "I feel that we should always put a little art into what we do. It’s better that way.”

Rei blinked. ”Hazuki-kun…” Had the man who couldn’t tell Capricorn from Cassiopeia really just quoted _From the Earth to the Moon_? 

“Ohhhh, did you recognize it? I was hoping you would!” Without waiting for Rei to reply, Hazuki turned around again, hands clasped in front of him. “Did you know that Jules Verne predicted the use of solar sails for interplanetary travel over a hundred and thirty years ago? Isn’t it amazing to think that your sail is in a direct lineage from then to now?”

“I—Yes. It really is.”

Hazuki’s eyes were shining. ”I know people think I’m cool because I get to go into space, but I don’t think they understand that it couldn’t happen without people like you. I mean, you didn’t just fabricate the membrane for the IKAROS, you’re taking what you learned to work on the coating for the solar panels on Hayabusa 2, right?”

“How—how do you even know about that!?” Rei stammered. People didn’t just know things like that and they certainly didn’t ask him about it while practically bouncing on their feet.

“I asked around before I got here, Rei-kun. I’ve always admired what you do. I think solar energy is the most important scientific advancement we can work on in the twenty-first century so to know I’m working at the same agency as someone who’s a pioneer in the field…” Hazuki grinned and grasped both of Rei’s hands. “It’s so exciting. It’s an _honor_.”

"An honor.” If it were anyone else, Rei would’ve yanked his hands away and stormed off. He’d had enough mockery in his life to know what it looked like. That meant, however, that he was also somewhat adept at recognizing sincerity, but even if he wasn’t there was no mistaking the light on Hazuki’s face, the energy radiating from his entire frame.

“Yep!” Hazuki gave Rei’s hands a squeeze before releasing them. “That’s why I had to make sure I could be here tonight. I know you don’t get a lot of chances to talk about what you do with people who care about it so I wanted to make sure—since this is your big day!—that at least one person told you personally how important your work is. Everybody will hear it from Okamura-san at the podium but you deserve more. So.” Hazuki’s face turned solemn and he bowed deeply. “I appreciate you, Ryugazaki Rei.”

“… Thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> backup from [tumblr](http://tawnyport.tumblr.com/post/94356979688/what-if-nagisarei-with-33-tho-or-is-that-too)


End file.
